A sweet 90 seconds...

A lot can be conveyed in 90 seconds as is evident in this moving spec ad for Johnnie Walker.

YFT - Bill Evans - My Foolish Heart

I discovered jazz when I was a junior in high school.  My favorite album at that time was "Waltz For Debby" by Bill Evans (1961).  Over the years I wore out my first copy of the album and of course had to buy a new one.  It remains to this day among my top favorite jazz albums.  Later after CD's came on the scene I purchased the awesome and beautiful boxed 12 disc set of the complete Riverside recordings.  Of course the title tune of the "Waltz For Debby" album is a terrific composition of which I never tire, but for me the heart-breaker track is "My Foolish Heart."  Bill played it so movingly and yet so simply.  I know every note of that piece as it plays on the album. But for a change of pace, I found a rare video live performance which is just as beautiful as the original album version.  Enjoy it right here

YFT - Mayer Hawthorne

A great YFT (YouTube From Tom) for today.  Mayer Hawthorne from Daryl's House, with Booker T. on organ.  I had never heard of Mayer Hawthorne until visiting at Daryl's House (where I'm spending lots of time these days.)  The dude can sing up a storm but there is a lot more to him -- check it out.
Anyway, this track is "I Can't Go For That," one of my favorite Hall & Oates tunes.  The track is an awesome live performance by all involved, with kudos to the guy on tenor.  Very hot stuff.  Play it right here.

BTW, have you, like me, ever wondered what the "that" is that Hall & Oates can't go for?  Wish I could ask Daryl.

YouTube From Tom

Starting a new feature:  "YouTube From Tom" (YFT).  You're gonna get links to music that I am digging as often I can get it together to make the post. I'll try to provide tunes with accompanying motion video, but in some cases you will get only the music with a static screen (like today).  And, if possible I'll provide links to my current ear worms.  Today's ear worm came from deep, deep in my subconscious.  Check it out.  Geeze I can't find my knees!

P.S.  Check out the comments on YouTube.  They're great.

Early computers were huge but not that smart...

Check out this cool post regarding early computers.  The following paragraph from the end of the post puts it all in perspective:

It’s fascinating to look back and see how things were in the early days of computing, and it truly illuminates how far we have come. Today we have more computing power in our pocket than what would fit in entire buildings in the past. Our most modest smartphones widely exceed the performance and storage capacity of these early behemoths.

All of it truly blows my mind.

Bio pic fun

I just ran across a really cool web page showing 68 examples of actors playing famous people in bio pics.  All of them are good but many of them approach an uncanny realism in the portrayal of the famous person.  Enjoy.

Kirk Douglas as Vincent Van Gogh

Chauncey Devega on growing fascism

Chauncey Devega has written a really good article on the burgeoning fascism fueled by Donald Trump and his ilk.  Here is an excellent expert from the article published in Salon. 

American society is structured around maintaining, promoting, and protecting unearned advantages, life opportunities, and resources for white people. As viewed through the lens of the color line, almost every aspect of American life is a “safe space” for white people. This “safe space” for whiteness is reinforced by many factors, including, but not limited to, the mass media, residential and housing segregation, racially homogeneous interpersonal social networks, as well as a racist “criminal justice” system. And when this protective bubble of white privilege is pierced, or in any way challenged, many white folks respond in extremely negative, hostile, and immature ways.

I highly recommend checking out the entire article. You can read it right here